November 5, 2008 - 3:17pm
Inside Edge

In Florida win, Obama owes Fox and Menendez

Three New Jerseyans played key roles in Barack Obama's 50.8%-48.4% win in Florida yesterday: Jamie Fox, a former Chief of Staff to Governor James E. McGreevey, was dispatched to Florida at the request of Obama campaign manager David Plouffe to help turn the state from Red to Blue; and U.S. Senator Robert Menendez spent several days campaigning in Florida for Obama -- especially in the Cuban-American community that makes up about 29% of the county's population. Fox also brought Tom Shea, a former Chief of Staff to Governor Jon Corzine, to Florida to help with the effort. Obama won Miami-Dade 58%-42%, a margin of nearly 140,000 votes. In 2004, the Democratic margin was about 48,000.

For Fox, who once served as Executive Director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, it was a successful return to the operative world that surely enhanced his relationship with the new administration.

Wally Edge can be reached via email at politicsnj@aol.com.